First sprinkle some salt over them, and roll them on the cooking board.
まず、ふきに塩を振り、まな板で転がします。

Technique known as ita zuri (lit. board rubbing).
板ずりという技法です。

Then put them in a pot of boiling water and boil for 2 minutes or so.
次に沸騰水に入れ、２分程度茹でます。

Drain and soak in cold water.
お湯を切り、冷水に漬けます。

The next step is tiring and time-consuming: peeling.
次は、皮をむくという、疲れるし、手間のかかる作業です。

My parents did most of the work for me. They complained that the fuki were tough. I guess I should have boiled them much longer (10 minutes or more).
両親がこの作業の大半をやってくれました。ふきが固いと言われました。もっと長く（10分以上？）茹でるべきだったかも知れません。

May 14, 2017

Yesterday, my father got lots of clams from an acquaintance. I first removed sand from them by soaking them overnight in 3% salt water (2,000 ml of water plus 60 g of salt).

昨日、父が知人からハマグリをたくさんもらいました。まず、3%の塩水（水2,000 mlに塩を60 g)に一晩漬けて、砂抜きをしました。

This morning, I checked the clams to find none of them were open. Were they all dead? Anyway, I made soup (called ushio jiru), using about one third of the clams. Apart from water, I only added a small amount of salt. Most recipes call for kombu and sake. I added a small amount of soy sauce at the end.

May 13, 2017

It is said that cooking rolled barley requires twice the amount of water. Thus, 1 go (180 ml) of rolled barley requires 2 go (360 ml) of water. However, I simply mix 1.5 go of rice and 0.5 go of germ rolled barley and add the water up to the 2-go level.

May 12, 2017

It's time for shin tamanegi (newly harvested onions). They are tender and sweet, and I love them.

新玉ねぎの季節です。柔らかくて甘くて、大好きです。

They are good in miso soup,
味噌汁に入れてもいいし、

they are good in Japanese-style potato salad,
日本風のポテトサラダに入れてもいいし、

with a generous amount of mayonnaise.
マヨネーズをたっぷり入れて。

The potato salad turned rather watery due to the newly harvested onion. It tasted good, though.
新玉ねぎのせいで、ポテトサラダはかなり水ぽっくなってしまいました。美味しかったですが。

I also made curry, using two newly harvested onions, among others.
また、新玉ねぎを２個使ってカレーも作りました。

We had it for lunch today. I transferred the leftovers in a smaller pot so that I could put it in the fridge after it cooled down. Clostridium perfringens is the major cause of food poisoning from curry left overnight.
今日の昼ごはんに食べました。残りは小さい鍋に移して、冷めてから冷蔵庫に入れました。一晩寝かせたカレーによる食中毒の主な原因はウェルシュ菌です。

And, for supper today, I made Napolitan spaghetti.
そして今日の夕飯にはナポリタンを作りました。

May 11, 2017

Recently, mugi meshi (rice cooked with barley) has become a staple at my parents' house. I usually mix 1.5 go of rice with 0.5 go of rolled barley, which translates into the barley percentage of 0.5/(1.5 + 0.5) x 100 = 25%, which is quite similar to that of the mugi meshi served at jails in Japan (rice to barley ratio of 7:3, i.e., barley percentage of 30%).

For lunch today, I made nigiri zushi (< sushi) using leftover mugi meshi.

今日の夕飯には、残りの麦飯で握り寿司を作りました。

Well, not exactly nigiri zushi. I simply made balls of rice, and
正しくは握り寿司ではなく、単にご飯で玉を作り、

placed a slice of salmon attached with some wasabi on top of each ball.
ワサビを少し付けたサーモンスライスをその玉の上に載せました。

My parents and I love mugi meshi so much that I purchased a bag of 20-kg germ rolled barley online for 5,000 yen. Very low rice by Japanese standards.
両親も私も麦飯が好きなので、胚芽押麦20 kgをオンラインで5,000円で買いました。日本の基準ではとても安価です。

I decided to store it in the kome bitsu (rice bin), which has been out of use for a long time.

長く使われていない米櫃（こめびつ）で保存することにしました。

I think that such kome bitsu have died out in most Japanese houses. One reason is that we now tend to buy 10, 5, or even 2 kg-bag of rice rather than 30-kg bags.
大半の日本の家庭では、このような米櫃は廃れていると思います。理由の一つは、今では、30キロの袋ではなく、10キロ、５キロ、さらに２キロの袋を買うことが多いからです。

I put about half the germ rolled barley in the rice bin. I kept the rest in the bag and sealed the bag with tape to keep off insects.
米櫃には胚芽押麦を約半分入れました。残りは袋に残し、虫が入らないように袋をテープで閉じました。